This blog is dedicated to my dear friend Joey Willis. A low maintenance man that has shed light on what makes me a high maintenance woman.
Joey and I have had the pleasure of sharing 7 months of our race together, living together, doing ministry together, and learning to do community together. A couple of weeks ago we were sitting at lunch talking, I can’t remember the context, but I said something, and he rolled his eyes and commented that I was high maintenance. I kind of took offense to this, for those of you that are currently picturing a ginger coloured kitten hissing and spitting, with its back arched and fur standing straight up in the air, this was not quite what happened, but I did vehemently deny it and attempt to argue my case. After all I’m on the world race! I have slept in numerous busses trains and airplanes, and on the floor, I have eaten bugs, chicken throats, and solidified blood that looked like cubes of jello, I have gone days without showers, killed, defeathered, gutted, cleaned, and cooked a chicken, and have pooped in some bathrooms that could be off the set of a dozen different horror movies. I have worn the same clothes for days, have had to build a fire before I could cook dinner over it, how can you possibly call me high maintenance! I am a flexible and well adjusted woman. HA! Fat chance. He pointed out that none of those things have anything to do with making me high or low maintenance. After all, everyone on our squad has been through similar experiences on the race, and there are still men and women that demand more than than others.
He went on to explain in great detail, the things that drive me, why I require so much more maintenance than someone like himself for example, and what exactly it means to be high maintenance. The jist of it is, I know what I want and I don’t want to settle for less. It’s not a bad thing, it doesn’t make me a horrible person, it just means that I have a standard for things, and when those standards are not met I will fight for them. It can actually be really good thing when focused outwardly. Not only am I willing to fight for the things that I need or want, but I am also willing to fight for the things that I feel are needed by others and are not being received.
Joey has probably benefitted in more than one way during the course of the race by being placed on a team that has had more than one high maintenance person on it, because contrary to popular belief the world also contains more than it’s fair share of high maintenance men. Because of it he has probably had to consume less cheese than he would have otherwise had to (not his favourite thing), and because he is willing to settle for less would have probably remained silent and just tried to eat around it instead of saying something. So your welcome Joey, because I, as a high maintenance person will always fight for you low maintenance people to have the things that you need or want too.
Cheers to being high maintenance, I accept it, I receive it, and I now, when called it will take it as a compliment, cause that’s just who I am. A high maintenance woman.
To finish it off here’s a quote from the movie “When Harry Met Sally” that apparently perfectly describes my high maintenance self:
